Appearance
by AnonymousLily
Summary: Has the Captain insulted Martha? If so, how can he make it up to her?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Life Isn't Fair

Martha began transferring cookies into tins for the bake sale. She stopped when she realized there were at least twelve cookies unaccounted for, aside from all those she had put aside for the family, all of which had already been eaten. She stood there, arms crossed, thinking. Then she called, "Captain Gregg?"

He materialized and snatched a cookie. She attempted to slap his wrist, but of course her hand simply slipped through. She grabbed the cookie instead then, yanking it from his grip. He grabbed another cookie and immediately dematerialized and then rematerialized across the kitchen, stuffing the whole cookie in his mouth with an evil grin.

"Hungry ghost, eh? You've got to stop chowing down the baked goods or you'll lose that fine physique. It makes no difference to me, but I bet Carolynn would mind."

Crumbs in his beard, he looked a bit like an overgrown kid to Martha. He swallowed and smugly told her, "Hungry ghost whose physique is unchanging."

"You really are annoying, Captain. Go ahead, rub salt in the wound. I just look at a cookie and I gain weight."

"Martha, I seem to recall you doing more than simply looking at five cookies last night."

"Well, it was less than you had! Life isn't fair."

"Neither is death. If you really want to lose weight, I'm willing to assist you."

"What sort of assistance are we talking about?"

"We could go for a brisk walk along the shore after meals. Perhaps cutting your rations would also help."

"Forget it. Here I am talking to a ghost who sounds like a doctor."

"What sort of assistance did you think I could provide?"

"You make things fly through the air; you make things appear and disappear. I was just hoping for more useful powers."

"How about if I implant a suggestion in your mind that you're not hungry?"

"Meddle with my mind? Forget the whole thing. And while you're at it, put back those cookies that just disappeared. We're already short, and I need to get these to the school."

He harumphed, took two cookies out of his coat pocket, and put them back in the tin. "You realize this is my galley."

"Just like you realize you're taking food meant for charity. Why not make up for some missing cookies by getting the car keys for me from Carolynn?"

"Deprive you of the exercise of walking upstairs? For your own sake, no." He dematerialized.

"If he weren't a ghost, I swear I'd kill him."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Just Conversation

In the wheelhouse, over a glass of madeira, the captain asked Carolynn, "Do you think Martha is disturbed by her weight, or does she merely complain for the sake of complaining?"

"I don't think I've ever heard her say anything about it. She seems pretty comfortable in her skin to me. Why, did she say something to you about it?"

"Ah, I understand. Mere banter."

"Just so you didn't agree with her complaint, everything should be fine."

"Blast! I offered to assist her lose weight."

"Captain, considering your status as a ladies' man during your life, you really stuck your foot in your mouth with Martha."

"Madam, I never once romanced a woman who had reason to complain of her appearance."

"Your charm is underwhelming me."

"As is yours, at the moment. Rather than bickering, you might help me to set things right with Martha, and help me to avoid these feminine traps for misguided comments regarding appearance."

"Let me think."

"Perhaps I could give her a box of chocolates as a symbol."

"A symbol of what?"

"Avoiding speech yet letting her know it's no concern to me how she looks."

"Avoiding speech is good, but the rest needs work. Daniel, maybe I can help you figure this out for yourself. Is there anything about your own appearance you'd change?"

"Certainly not."

"Of course, why did I even bother asking?"

"What about you, my dear?"

"Oh no. That's not something I want to share."

"So there is something? I can tell you with certainty you're perfectly beautiful."

"In that case . . . I wish I was taller and didn't have a birthmark."

"You're stature is utterly charming. I've never seen your birthmark though. Perhaps if I could glimpse it I could reassure you that . . ."

"No!"

"Ah, feminine wisdom. You choose to leave it to my imagination."

"Don't even imagine it!"

"You brought it up, my dear. Besides, policing imagination seems an unworthy goal for a writer."

Carolynn tried to hold in a grin. He was impossible, but Gull Cottage would be so dull without him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Martha Grant from Gull Cottage

When Martha entered Claymore's office, he stood up and said, "Well, hello! How may I help you?"

"I'm dropping off the rent check."

"For which property?"

"The Tower of London, where else. Claymore, what's wrong with you?"

"I don't remember meeting you. It must've slipped my mind; I've been terribly busy recently."

"Something in your mind sure slipped. Martha?" He shook his head, confused. "Martha Grant from Gull Cottage?"

Claymore beamed. "Maybe Martha Grant's daughter, but you sure aren't the Martha I know!"

"Just take the check; I want a receipt. Could I use your restroom?"

"Certainly, this way." When she locked the door, she studied herself in the mirror. She looked just like she had in her twenties- early twenties at that- brown hair and almost an hourglass figure again. She never had been a slip of a thing like some. Well, she wasn't about to waste it in Claymore's powder room.

She exited, thanking Claymore, and telling him she was Martha's niece.

She enjoyed being in town, the hats doffed and the doors opened. She decided to treat herself to lunch at Norrie's and soak up more admiring looks.

The guilt free lobster lunch was almost as good as the young tourist who tried to chat her up. This was fun! She saw Ed Peavey enter with a friend and couldn't wait for his reaction when he saw her. He didn't even look. She paid her bill, snuck up behind him, and put her hands over his eyes. "Guess who!"

His friend watched with keen interest.

"Can't say."

"It's me, Martha!" She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

At that, Ed stood up, knocking over his chair, and said, "Look, lady, you ain't Martha and I don't take to games. You'd best be off."

His friend, seriously eyeing Martha, said, "You can join us if you'd like."

Ed told him, "Looks like it's lunch for two. You and her, or you and me. Don't care which."

Martha mumbled an apology and left. Even worse, that young tourist who had flirted with her followed her. He had seemed nice enough at Norrie's, but out in town, which wasn't exactly teeming with people, he seemed a little creepy.

Her alarm rang then and she got out of bed. She rushed to look into a mirror and sighed with relief that it showed a broad face with white hair.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Of Bear Claws, Birthmarks, and Scarves

The captain popped into the kitchen to find Martha humming, stopping to sip coffee, then humming again as she folded laundry. "Good morning, Martha."

"Help yourself to coffee. There's also half a grapefruit in the refrigerator if you're hungry."

He poured himself coffee. "Martha, if I said anything yesterday to offend you . . . ."

"Offend me? I don't even remember - oh wait, the cookies and the weight. Hey, you didn't by any chance send me a dream last night?"

"How did you know I have the ability to shape dreams?"

"Christmas. Sure, I didn't know you were still hanging around back then, but give me some credit for putting two and two together."

"Why would I send you a dream?"

"Good. Because if you ever do, remember two words: Errol and Flynn. And in that case I wouldn't mind being young again, but otherwise forget it."

"Errol Flynn? What about Ed Peavey?"

"Hey, a girl can dream. Which reminds me, I need to make a call. Listen, Captain, if you're hankering after sweets, there might be two bear claws hidden behind the bread. Just leave me one, ok?"

Bear claw in hand, he listened just long enough to ascertain Martha was speaking to Peavey. He finished the pastry and then brushed any crumbs off his face before materializing in the master cabin where Carolynn was typing. "Good morning. Martha seems to be in a merry mood today. I sent her a dream last night in which she was young and considerably lighter."

"Captain! You didn't! That's horrible."

You underestimate Martha. She's a pragmatist, and is, as you would say, 'comfortable in her skin.'

"Well, I'm glad everything worked out between you two."

"You need not apologize for having concerned me that I spoke out of turn to her."

"How thoughtful of you," Carolynn said sarcastically.

"You're welcome, my dear. Now, about that birthmark you mentioned."

"I decided to show it to you." He nodded, a gleam in his eye, eyebrows arched, and saying nothing. She reached in her sweater pocket and handed him a black and white photograph of herself as a baby. "See, it's right there, over the right hip." Holding the picture, he began to laugh wildly. "You think my birthmark is funny?"

"Of course not! I'm sure in person it's quite enchanting. It's just that I was expecting . . . then you hand me this . . . ." He laughed again.

Martha tapped on the door and entered, holding two scarves. "Sorry for interrupting the party, but Ed is picking me up soon and it couldn't wait. I'll make and leave a casserole in the refrigerator; all you need to do is set the oven to 350 and bake it for an hour."

Carolynn and the captain spoke at the same time. She said she'd be glad to, while the captain said, "It IS my galley and I CAN cook. Go have fun and leave the kitchen duty to me."

Martha smiled fondly at him while Carolynn told him, "I do appreciate a man who cooks." Martha's smile turned to a wicked grin. She'd have to get Carolynn to tell the captain she adored a man who did housework.

She held up both scarves and asked, "Which should I wear, the olive green or the sky blue?"

Carolynn squinted her eyes, deciding, while the captain told her to wear the blue since it's a good color on her. "It is? Well thanks, Captain."

As she left the room, Carolynn jokingly called out after her, "Don't do anything we wouldn't do!"

The captain smiled wistfully at her and murmured, "I believe you mean 'couldn't,' my dear, not 'wouldn't.'"


End file.
